My baby sister, age 54, just got back from Sweden after having lived there for 7 years. She learned to speak fluent Swedish. She told me there are no jobs in Sweden and that minimum wage is $12.50/hour. When I tried to explain to her the correlation between a high minimum wage and no job her answer was "Well you can't just pay people whatever you want to!" Keep in mind that my baby sister is a hard core socialist and moved to Sweden because she wanted to be taken care of.

She has been back in the States for a couple of months and is working three part time jobs. She is back at Nabisco working ~ 25 hours a week setting up displays, substitute teaching where she lives, and at night she is helping her ex-husband set up stages at the convention center for things like plays, concerts, etc. So she got three jobs right off the bat here and could barely get one while working in Sweden.

While in Sweden she did substitute teach for a while and worked part time (I think under the table) in a restaurant for a guy from Turkey but she couldn't make it. When her "boyfriend's" (the guy she was living with that she had met online) disability check was cut in 1/2 by the government when they finally figured out that they were living together she had to leave because she couldn't find a permanent job in Sweden that would pay her enough to where she could stay there.

So for now she is back in the states. She told me she would really like to go back there. She is a die hard socialist heart. She doesn't/can't comprehend the connection between high taxes and state control and lack of jobs.

Announcements

Foolanthropy 2014!
By working with young, first-time moms, Nurse-Family Partnership is able to truly change lives – for generations to come.

When Life Gives You Lemons
We all have had hardships and made poor decisions. The important thing is how we respond and grow. Read the story of a Fool who started from nothing, and looks to gain everything.

Work for Fools?
Winner of the Washingtonian great places to work, and Glassdoor #1 Company to Work For 2015! Have access to all of TMF's online and email products for FREE, and be paid for your contributions to TMF! Click the link and start your Fool career.